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CIk Stryker memorial 



1783 









I 




PROCEEDINGS 


OF THE 


Society of the Cincinnati 


In the State of New Jersey 


AT THE 


Meeting held at Trenton, New Jersey 


February 22nd, 1901 


> > 

AS A MEMORIAL OF 


WILLIAM SCUDDER STRYKER 













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Major-General William Scudder Stryker 

Ninth President of the Society of the Cincinnati 
in the State of New Jersey 
July 4, 1896-Oct. 29, 1900 

































































- 


































































































TOlilliam Scubber Striker, 


great»great*granD*n epbcw of Colonel matbaniel ScuDDer 
(/Pay 10, 1 733— October 15, 1781) wbo was billeD in 
ffgbt at 3Blacft point, near Shrewsbury, /Ponmoutb 
County, mew 3ersey, being tbe only member of tbe 
Continental Congress billeD in battle During tbe IReno* 
luttonary UUlar— born June 6, 1838, at Grenton, mew 
Jersey; electeD an honorary member of tbe Society, 
July 4, 1876; aDmitteD to bereDitary membership, 
July 4, 1888; was graDuateD from Princeton TOttiver* 
stty, 1858; Degree of /Paster of arts, Princeton THnfver* 
sity, 1861 ; Degree of Doctor of Haws, Princeton IHniver* 
sity, 1899; /Pajor anD atDe*De=Camp, Staff of /Pajor* 
©eneral duincy a. ©illmore, UlnfteD States Volunteers, 
3uly 8, IS63; brevetteD 2,ieutenant«Colonel anD aiDe* 
De*Camp, Staff of (Governor TffilarD, mew Jersey, Jan* 
uary, 10, 1867; 3BrigaDier*(Seneral anD BDJutant* 
©eneral of tbe State, February 9, 1874; presiDent 
mew Jersey Ibistorical Society, January 26, 1897; 
presiDent Crenton JBattle /Ponument association, 
/Pay 12, 1894; trustee ^Theological Seminary, /Pay 6, 
1896; presiDent of tbe Society, July 4, 1896; 2>ieD 
in Crenton, mew Jersey, ©ctober 29, 1900. 


(Iftoll of tbe Society of tbe Cincinnati in tbe State of TRew 3erse^,) 




At a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Society 
of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey, held at the 
Washington Hotel, Jersey City, New Jersey, November 
20th, 1900, it was resolved, That the Standing Committee 
suggest to the Committee of Arrangements, that out of 
respect to the memory of our late President, General 
William Scudder Stryker, the usual evening banquet be 
omitted and that the meeting be a memorial meeting to 
be held at some central point during the day of February 
Twenty-second, Nineteen hundred and one. 


State ot flew Jersey 
Senate Chamber 


fl&ablon ipitneg, Jprcsftent. 

February 5, 1901. 


W. T. B. S. ImlAY, Esq., 

Secretary of the Society of the Cincinnati, 

551 Madison St., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Sir : 

Pursuant to a resolution of the Senate, I have the honor to tender 
to the Society of the Cincinnati, the use of the Senate Chamber for the 
memorial services to be held in honor of the late Brevet Major-General 
William S. Stryker on the 22d of February instant. 

Respectfully, 

Mahlon Pitney, 
President of the Senate. 


State of *Wew Serseg 
aeeembls Chamber. 

Speafter's IRoom, Urenton. 

January 28, 190I. 

My Dear Sir : 

It gives me great pleasure, personally and officially, to hand you 
herewith a copy of a resolution passed unanimously by the House of 
Assembly, on Tuesday, January 22, 1901. 

The Custodian of the State House has been directed to prepare the 
Assembly Chamber for your use on that date. If there are any other 
arrangements that I can have ordered for your convenience and satisfaction, 
I shall be pleased to hear from you. Very Respectfully, 

Wm. J. Bradley, 

Speaker. 

Mr. William B. Buck, Acting-President, 

Society of the Cincinnati in New Jersey, 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 


State of 1 New Betsey 
BosemblE Chamber* 


Copy of a resolution unanimously passed by 
the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey on 
January 22nd, 1901. 

** TKHbeteae, It has come to the attention of the General Assembly that 
the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey proposes to hold a 
memorial service on the twenty-second of February next, in honor of the 
late Brevet Major-General William S. Stryker, Adjutant-General of New 
Jersey and late President of that society, and 

** TKHbCrca£b This General Assembly desires to place upon record its 
high sense of appreciation of the long, faithful and brilliant services rendered 
New Jersey by General Stryker as an officer, historian and public-minded 
citizen, therefore, be it 

** 1RC50lVCbt That the Speaker is authorized, and he is hereby directed, 
to invite the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey to hold 
such memorial exercises in this Chamber.” 

Wm. J. Bradley, 

Speaker. 


flDemorial. 


The Committee of Arrangements in accordance with 
the suggestion of the Standing Committee of the Society, 
accepted the invitation of the Legislature of the State 
of New Jersey and the Society of the Cincinnati in the 
State of New Jersey met in the Assembly Chamber in 
the State Capitol, at Trenton, New Jersey, February 22d, 
1901, at 12 M. 

Dr. Humphreys, President of the Society, called the 
meeting to order and said : 

We gather most appropriately in this room, by the 
courtesy of the officials of the State, to hold our meeting, 
which to-day has taken upon itself, on account of the death 
of our late President, the character of a Memorial. 

It is with some hesitation and embarrassment that I 
speak of General Stryker in this his native city and 
among those who knew and loved him so well. I never shall 
forget the silent throng that lined the streets the day of his 
funeral, almost all the long way out to the cemetery. I have 
witnessed the pageantry with which notable men have been 
followed to the grave in this country, and on the other side, 
but never have I seen a more impressive spectacle than that 
silent, respectful tribute of the common people. 

There are those here to-day who can speak much more in- 
telligently of General Stryker; who can speak more grace- 
fully and more eloquently than I can ever hope to do; who 
can speak of him authoritatively as an author, as a soldier 
and as a man of affairs. But I should indeed be remiss, if, as 
Chaplain of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New 
Jersey, I had nothing to say of General Stryker as represent- 
ing the highest type of Christian gentleman. Gentleness and 


8 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


power, bravery and the love of peace ; these are most beau- 
tiful when found together, and no one could know General 
Stryker long without discovering how charmingly these 
qualities were blended in his very unassuming, and yet noble 
and lovable, character. Nations rise and fall; great states- 
men live and die ; but a true, noble character cannot 
die, and will live forever in its gentle influence on the hearts 
and lives of mankind. 

The colors of the Society were then brought in by Mes- 
sieurs Reckless, Pennington, and Barber, the Society stand- 
ing and singing: 


My country, ’tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee I sing; 

Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride, 
From every mountain side 
Let freedom ring. 


My native country, thee — 
Land of the noble free — 

Thy name I love; 

I love thy rocks and rills, 

Thy woods and templed hills 
My heart with rapture thrills 
Like that above. 


Let music swell the breeze, 
And ring from all the trees 
Sweet freedom’s song: 
Let mortal tongues awake ; 
Let all that breathe partake; 
Let rocks their silence break; 
The sound prolong. 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


9 


While standing Dr. Humphreys offered the following 
prayer : 

'‘Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with Thy most gra- 
cious favor ; and further us with Thy continual help, that in 
all our works, begun, continued, and ended in Thee, we may 
glorify Thy Holy Name, and, finally, by Thy mercy, obtain 
everlasting life ; through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen/' 

Dr. Humphreys — The roll call is first in order. The Sec- 
retary will call the roll. 

The Secretary called the roll, and the following responded 
to their names : 

Mr. W. P. Barber, 

Mr. W. P. Belknap, 

Mr. L. D. Boggs, 

Mr. T. J. Bonnell, 

Mr. J. W. S. Campbell, 

Dr. T. M. Cheesman, 

Mr. W. Dahlgren, 

Dr. H. Dayton, 

Dr. P. Frazer, 

Mr. W. S. Gales, 

Hon. C. G. Garrison, 

Hon. S. H. Grey, 

Dr. L. M. Halsey, 

Hon. H. S. Harris, 

Mr. P. A. Hendry, 

Capt. F. D. Howell, 

Mr. Imlay — Mr. President, I find that President Stry- 
ker and Vice-President Buck do not answer to their 
names. President Stryker died October 29, 1900. 

Last Saturday Vice-President Buck, who expected to 
preside at this meeting, died. Mr. Buck was our oldest mem- 
ber, having joined the Society in 1856. From 1857 to 1867 
he was Secretary of the Society; from 1869 to 1875 he was 


Dr. F. L. Humphreys, 
Mr. D. B. Idell, 

Mr. W. T. B. S. Imlay, 
Mr. F. W. Jackson, 

Mr. H. D. Maxwell, 

Mr. F. McGee, 

Mr. J. M. Montgomery, 
Mr. W. C. Osmun, 

Mr. W. Pennington, 
Hon. W. Potter, 

Mr. W. McK. Reckless, 
Mr. W. E. D. Scott, 

Mr. W. Thomas, 

Mr. C. H. Woodruff, 
Mr. E. M. Wood. 


IO 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


Treasurer of the Society, and Vice-President from 1883 un- 
til the time of his death, when he was Acting President as 
well. 

Dr. Humphreys — You have heard from the Secre- 
tary the sad news that, as we have gathered here to do honor 
to our late President, we receive the notification of the death 
of our Vice-President, who has served the Society so long 
and in so many different capacities. A resolution concern- 
ing his death is in order. 

Mr. Maxwell — I move the following resolution : Re- 
solved, That a Committee be appointed to draft suitable 
resolutions concerning the death of William Bowen Buck, 
and present them to the Society July 4, 1901. 

Dr. Humphreys — I appoint as such committee Messieurs 
Maxwell, Boggs, and Sims. The reading of the Institution 
is now in order. 

The following extracts from the Institution were then 
read by Captain Howell : 

“It having pleased the Supreme Governor of the Universe, 
in the disposition of human affairs, to cause the separation 
of the colonies of North America from the domination of 
Great Britain, and, after a bloody conflict of eight years, to 
establish them free, independent and sovereign States, con- 
nected, by alliances founded on reciprocal advantage, with 
some of the great princes and powers of the earth. 

“To perpetuate, therefore, as well the remembrance of this 
vast event, as the mutual friendships which have been 
formed under the pressure of common danger, and, in many 
instances, cemented by the blood of the parties, the officers 
of the American Army do hereby, in the most solemn man- 
ner, associate, constitute and combine themselves into one 
Society of Friends , to endure as long as they shall endure, 
or any of their eldest male posterity, and, in failure thereof, 
the collateral branches who may be judged worthy of becom- 
ing its supporters and Members . 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


ii 


“ The officers of the American Army having generally been 
taken from the citizens of America , possess high veneration 
for the character of that illustrious Roman , Lucius Quin - 
tins Cincinnatus; and being resolved to follow his ex- 
ample, by returning to their citizenship, they think they may 
with propriety denominate themselves — 

THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI . 

“ THE FOLLOWING PRINCIPLES SHALL BE IMMUTA- 
BLE AND FORM THE BASIS OF THE SOCIETY OF THE 
CINCINNA TI. 

“ AN INCESSANT ATTENTION TO PRESERVE IN- 
VIOLATE THOSE EXALTED RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES OF 
HUMAN NATURE FOR WHICH THEY HAVE FOUGHT 
AND BLED , AND WITHOUT WHICH THE HIGH RANK OF 
A RA TIONAL BEING IS A CURSE RA THER THAN A 
BLESSING . 

"AN UNALTERABLE DETERMINATION TO PROMOTE 
AND CHERISH , BETWEEN THE RESPECTIVE STATES, 
THA T UNION AND NA TIONAL HONOR SO ESSENTIALL Y 
NECESSARY TO THEIR HAPPINESS , AND THE FUTURE 
DIGNITY OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE . 

“ TO RENDER PERMANENT THE CORDIAL AFFEC- 
TION SUBSISTING AMONG THE OFFICERS. THIS SPIRIT 
WILL DICTA TE BROTH ERL Y KINDNESS IN ALL THINGS \ 
AND PARTICULARLY EXTEND TO THE MOST SUBSTAN- 
TIAL ACTS OF BENEFICENCE , ACCORDING TO THE ABIL- 
ITY OF THE SOCIETY , TOWARDS THOSE OFFICERS AND 
THEIR FAMILIES WHO UNFORTUNATELY MAY BE 
UNDER THE NECESSITY OF RECEIVING ITT 

Dr. Humphreys — Communications from the Secretary 
are now in order. 

Mr. Imlay — I have received the following from the 

NEW YORK STATE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 

“It is with great sorrow that I announce to you and the 
brothers of your Society, the death in this city, on the six- 
teenth instant, of our esteemed and beloved President, Gen- 
eral William Greene Ward. 

New York City, Faithfully, 

January Seventeenth, Talbot Oliphant, 

Nineteen Hundred and One. Secretary. 


12 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


Mr. Maxwell — I desire to offer the following resolu- 
tion: 

Whereas, the New York State Society of the Cincinnati 
has suffered a great loss in the death of its President, Gen- 
eral William Greene Ward, therefore, 

Be it Resolved by the Society of the Cincinnati in the 
State of New Jersey that it extends to the New York So- 
ciety its sympathy in their affliction, and that a copy of this 
resolution be sent to the New York Society. 

The motion, being seconded by Mr. Harris, was carried. 

Dr. Humphreys — Just before his death, Mr. William 
Bowen Buck, the Vice-President of this Society, had pre- 
pared a few introductory remarks for this occasion, and 
I will call upon Mr. McGee to read them : 

Members of the Cincinnati — Out of respect to the 
memory of our late President we have thought it advisable 
to omit the usual evening banquet and make the meeting 
of to-day a memorial rather than a business meeting. We 
come together to do honor to the memory and in loving 
remembrance of our late President, General William Scud- 
der Stryker, to take such action as we may deem suitable 
as a society in reference to his death. 

We can all recall his kind, genial face, his courtly manner, 
his unselfish disposition, and his modest demeanor. 
General Stryker was a man beyond the average in intellect, 
in strength of character, and in his devotion to the right, 
with social qualities which endeared him to all with whom 
he came in contact. 

We do well to pay tribute to his memory. 

He was a brave and distinguished soldier, loyal to his 
country, and served his country faithfully and well. He 
was a prominent and well-known citizen of the State of 
New Jersey, a citizen of much public spirit and enterprise. 
The faithful, brilliant, distinguished service rendered by 
General Stryker to the State of New Jersey through a long 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


13 


period of years has now become interwoven with its 
history. 

General Stryker was an acknowledged authority as a 
historian of the events connected with the War of the 
Revolution. 

Such lives are a blessing to their family, their friends, 
and to the community in which they live, and the influences 
for good growing out of such lives never die. 

We, the members of the Cincinnati, standing as it were 
around the open grave of this good man, our friend of the 
past, with heads bowed with grief, would drop a tear of 
sympathy and love as we bid farewell to our friend and 
President. He has gone from us into that peaceful beyond, 
we shall see his face no more, but pleasant memories con- 
nected with our intercourse and associations in the days 
gone by will linger while life lasts. 

In the words of a great poet we can say: 

"Encircled by his family, 

Watched by affection's gentle eye, 

So soft and kind, 

His soul to Him who gave it rose. 

God led it to its long repose, 

Its glorious rest. 

And though the Christian’s sun has set, 

Its light shall linger around us yet — 

‘Bright, radiant, blest.” 

Dr. Humphreys — After hearing these words of our late 
Vice-President, which come to-day to us like words from 
another and a far-off land, nothing could be more fitting than 
the resolutions prepared by this Society concerning the loss 
of its honored President, and I call upon Mr. Harris to read 
them. 

Mr. Harris — Mr. President and Gentlemen of the So- 
ciety: The deadly archer has again hit his shining mark; 
and the arrow which hath laid low our chief has penetrated 
our hearts. 




Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


'‘Friend after friend departs. 

Who hath not lost a friend? m 

We have no union here of hearts 
That finds not here an end.” 

General Stryker, President of this Society, has gone. His 
handsome face, his fine figure, his charming manner, true 
indicia of the beautiful qualities of his heart and mind, have 
vanished. 

He was loved by us all, and he loved all. He was with- 
out an enemy in this Society, without even a critic — but shall 
we not see him again in that better land ? Coleridge said : 

"There is no death. What seems so is transition. 

This world is but the portal to life Elysian.” 

In that bright, golden realm to which his gentle spirit fled 
on that mid-autumn day, when some kind angel shall take 
him by the hand and point out to him this 
"Little gilded globule swimming in the sunlight far away,” 
may we not hope when he thinks of home and loved ones 
there, he will not also think of us, his friends of the Cin- 
cinnati ? 

Brave man and true, kind and loving. Soldier of the 
United States, soldier of his State, our own New Jersey. 

General William Scudder Stryker, we bid thee Hail and 
Farewell. 

I have the honor, sir, to offer the resolutions which I have 
drawn at the request of your Committee, one of whom him- 
self, on Saturday last, joined the innumerable caravan, and 
now sleeps sweetly in the Silent City : 

"Resolved, That this Society place upon its ever-to-be- 
preserved record its high appreciation and love for 

Major-General William Scudder Stryker, LL. D. 

gallant soldier, efficient officer ; for thirty-three years Ad- 
jutant-General of the State; historian and scholar; for four 
years, and at the close of his life, the loved and honored 

President of the Society. , 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


iS 


Resolved, That to his widow and children we give our 
deep sympathy and the assurance that we mourn his un- 
timely death on the twenty-ninth day of October, Nineteen 
Hundred, as an irreparable loss to the 

Society of the Cincinnati. 

Resolved, That to the family of General Stryker there be 
sent an engrossed copy of these resolutions. 

Dr. Humphreys — You have heard the resolutions so elo- 
quently offered by Mr. Harris, what is your pleasure? 

The resolutions were seconded and adopted by a rising 
vote. 

Dr. Humphreys — We have here with us from the So- 
ciety of the Sons of the American Revolution, Judge White- 
head, who wishes to take advantage of this occasion to pre- 
sent a memorial concerning our late President. 

Hon. Mr. Whitehead — Mr. Chairman and Members 
of the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey: 
By your courtesy I am permitted to appear in this presence, 
on behalf of the New Jersey Society of the Sons of the 
American Revolution and as its President. I thank you for 
your kindness. 

At the last annual meeting of our Association held Jan- 
uary 3rd, 1901, a minute was presented relative to General 
William Scudder Stryker, and I was instructed by a rising 
vote to present a copy of that minute to Mrs. Stryker. In- 
formation reached me of your meeting to-day, called for the 
purpose of paying a tribute of respect to him, whom we all 
honor, your President at the time of his death and our first 
President. I had hoped to have had the pleasure of meeting 
Mrs. Stryker here, and, in your presence, to have placed in 
her hands this small memorial of our respect, of our love and 
of our reverence of her husband. 

I have listened with profound interest to what has already 
been said, so heartfelt, so true, so strong, so tender, so ap- 
preciative of our deceased friend. I can add little, if any- 


i6 Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 

thing. Permit me, however, to say a few words expressive 
of my own feelings for General Stryker. I knew him well, 
but not intimately ; not so well as I could have wished. We 
lived apart, so far as mere distance is concerned ; he had his 
duties, his responsibilities, and I had mine. But I met him 
frequently, as frequently as I could. I learned to love him ; 
his presence was a benediction; his vast historical knowl- 
edge, acquired after so many years of research and investiga- 
tion, was at the disposal of his friends, as were also his time 
and efforts to interest and instruct. There was a peculiar 
magnetism about the man ; a magnetism which charmed and 
drew all to him. His nature was the sweetest and gentlest I 
ever knew in man; a favor asked by a friend from him 
seemed to be but a favor conferred on him ; he seemed to give 
himself up for the time to those who sought him. He was 
their property, to be used for their advantage; but with all 
this there was a quiet dignity that repelled, so quiet as not 
to seem a rebuke, but so commanding as to prevent unwar- 
wanted intrusion. He was the most unselfish of men, yield- 
ing to every proper demand made upon him, as a friend or 
as a citizen. His efforts in behalf of those who lived and 
died under the unwarranted suspicion of disloyalty to the 
Country, and his triumph in their complete vindication, are 
but specimens of what he always strove to do. 

As a historian, he added a vast amount of true character 
to the history of his native State ; digging and delving as a 
true historian loves to do, he has unearthed the most valuable 
information relative to the Colonial and other history of 
New Jersey. 

For many years, during the whole period of the history of 
our Society, he was Chairman of the Committee on Applica- 
tions, and, in the discharge of his duty, he was unwearied 
and persevering to an extent greatly beyond what ought to 
be expected of him. 

In our Society he has left a memory which will ever re- 
main fresh and green with us, and which will ever be cher- 
ished with the highest reverence. 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


17 


Mr. Chairman, I beg you to be kind enough, either through 
yourself or through some members of your Society, to pre- 
sent this tribute of respect to Mrs. Stryker. Again, I thank 
you for your courtesy. 

Dr. Humphreys — On behalf of the Society, I thank you 
for making this Society the custodian of this beautiful me- 
morial, and assure you that a suitable committee will be ap- 
pointed to present it in person to Mrs. Stryker. 

There is no member of our Society who knew of General 
Stryker’s interest in the Society of the Cincinnati more in- 
timately than our Secretary, and a paper from him will be 
heard, I am sure, with the greatest attention. I present to 
you Mr. Imlay. 

Mr. Imlay: Mr. President, Gentlemen of the Cin- 
cinnati, and Friends — The resolutions that have been pre- 
sented, the character of these exercises, even the very atmos- 
phere of this room, bespeak a condition of sorrow and a feel- 
ing of loss. One who has been of us will never again answer 
the roll call nor be seen in our midst. When on the journey 
through life we are separated, from those we love and 
honor, by that dark, mysterious river, Death, we who 
remain on this side, realizing the void made by the absence 
of the one who has crossed never to return, know that words 
can but feebly express that which is felt. This is my feeling 
to-day, gathered as we are in adjourned meeting, adjourned 
by him whose memory we honor. Yet, I know that when the 
first sorrow is o’er and we consider what William Scudder 
Stryker was, and did, we will realize that the dropping 
of weak mortality was but for the freeing of that nobler be- 
ing of which we so oft caught glimpses while he was here 
among us. The sense of loss will be the less keen in the 
possession of a legacy which he has left to each of us. A 
legacy which may be the means of keeping this Order in our 
beloved State, the symbol of loyalty to the flag of to-day and 
devotion to the duty of the present. 

As we turn to our roll to note what he was, we find a rec- 


18 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


ord of those educational, civic, and military positions which 
he had filled ; together with the date of birth, graduation and 
the honors his “Alma Mater” had conferred upon him — and 
then I have added “died in Trenton, N. J., October 29, 
1900.” 

That is all — a few short lines to be read by those who will 
follow us. But to us, this is not the record of General Stry- 
ker as we know it. Years did not measure his life, neither 
did position show his influence or worth. Mother Earth may 
claim as her own the form we knew so well, yet he will live 
in the memory of those with whom he was brought in con- 
tact, as well as by the value of the work he has done. What- 
ever the position he held, when the occasion demanded it, 
found him prepared for the duty at hand ready to give an 
account of his stewardship in such a manner that its effect 
lives while he rests from his labors. 

Nature and heredity did much to fit this man for the po- 
sition he occupied in the country, the State, and in our or- 
der. Of fine personal appearance, and easy in manner, he 
was as sensitive as a child, waiting to be sought rather than 
seeking himself. The careful forethought manifest in the 
preparation made for contingencies was an element that did 
much to make him successful in that which he undertook. 
Descended as he was from those sturdy Dutch who have 
been the sinew of our matchless country, whose patience 
and perseverance are proverbial, he inherited their traits and 
combined therewith an ability to lead that comes from an 
innate power to control oneself when control is necessary. 

Love of home and love of country were the ruling forces 
of General Stryker’s life. Never a meeting passed but he 
when alone with me would make reference to something 
connected with those near and dear to him. I learned to 
love and honor him for his glorifying those who were his 
“all in all.” The old flag, for which his ancestor gave his life, 
was to him, next to his family, that for which he would ven- 
ture all. The Stryker of 1861, answering his country’s call, 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


19 


going from danger point to danger point as bearer of dis- 
patches, showed the same spirit as did General Stryker 
when in later years this capitol was on fire and the tattered 
remnants of the Stars and Stripes which the Boys in Blue 
of this State followed from ’61 to ’64 were in danger, he, 
almost single handed, again risked his life to save from de- 
struction. 

Thirty-three years, quietly working at his desk in yonder 
office, is a record few officials in any State have the honor 
of possessing. When in 1898 the call went forth for men 
to go to that far off Isle to carry Humanity’s Flag, the Stars 
and Stripes, to a downtrodden people, then the value of the 
quiet, painstaking work became manifest, and New Jersey 
had the honor of sending the best equipped troops into the 
field ready to do that which their country might require of 
them. Leaving his office on that Thursday afternoon, never 
to return, he left therein a written record of New Jersey’s 
soldiers, in our country's wars, that cannot be equaled by 
that of any other State. New Jersey, while honoring Gen- 
eral Stryker, has honored herself in keeping him where his 
usefulness made its value more and more pronounced with 
each advancing year. 

If anything were needed to remind the people of this city 
what tenacity of purpose and a perseverance in overcoming 
obstacles would do they have it in yonder Battle Monument. 
Through the persistent efforts of General Stryker, whose 
example others strove to emulate, that monument is yours, 
proclaiming more eloquently than any words that lips may 
utter, “Perseverance overcometh all things.” 

In the trying formative period of our country’s history 
this little State became consecrated ground. Dyed as it was 
with the blood of those who were willing to give and do all 
for their country, hardly a village or hamlet but has its 
legend of deeds of valor done. To prove the truth or falsity 
of the legend, to verify the place where any recorded deed 
occurred, to make plain the facts and all the facts connected 


20 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


therewith, was to General Stryker a pastime as well as a 
labor of love. To know through the records those of New 
Jersey who participated in the Revolutionary struggle was 
to him hero worship. The number of people, not alone in 
this State, but throughout the country, who are indebted to 
his careful research for their knowledge of the facts con- 
nected with their ancestors will never be known, yet I ven- 
ture to say that no one man can take up the work of satis- 
fying inquiries relative to the Revolution as he did. 

No one could look at General Stryker without being im- 
pressed with the fact that his very appearance and bearing 
bespoke the student as well as the man of affairs. He who 
'midst the duties of a busy life could find time to read his 
testament in the Greek so as to keep fresh in that study 
which so many cf us, as soon as we leave the college gates, 
throw aside as useless, was one who delighted to seek the 
quiet and seclusion of his library, there to delve among his 
books. Here, having gathered choice friends, silent com- 
panions, he would seek from them the best that they could 
give, and then after patient labor in gathering and com- 
paring he would give to others the result of his research. 
In this age of rapid bookmaking few authors would spend 
twenty years upon a single work. This was what General 
Stryker did, and after carefully verifying each fact he gave 
to the world in his “Battles of Trenton and Princeton” a 
work that for clearness of statement and accuracy of fact is 
unequaled. It had become so much a part of his very being 
that when he sent it to the press he wrote : “To-day I have 
sent my child out upon the world ; I wonder how it will be 
received.” As time with its leveling hand deals with the 
memory of this man he will be remembered as the historian 
as well as the general. 

In 1783 the men by whom the Cincinnati was instituted, 
having passed through experiences that had proved their 
love of country, planned the foundations of our Order 
not for that time alone, but to endure as long as time should 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


21 


endure. They recognized that patriotism did not belong 
to them alone, but was an ever recurrent quality, making 
itself manifest when the occasion demanded ; they provided 
in the institution of our Order that “as there will at all times 
be men in the respective States eminent for their abilities 
and patriotism, whose views may be directed to the same 
laudable objects with those of the Cincinnati, it shall be a 
rule to admit such characters as honorary members of the 
society. ,, Acting under this provision the society on July 
4, 1876, elected General Stryker an honorary member. 
July 4, 1888, General Stryker was admitted an hereditary 
member as the representative of Col. Nathaniel Scudder, 
the only member of the Continental Congress that was 
killed in battle. July 4, 1896, you, gentlemen of the Cin- 
cinnati, placed upon his shoulders the mantle that the pre- 
ceding March had fallen from those of Judge Sims. The 
honor you then conferred upon him was one he prized more 
highly than any other it was in the power of man to bestow. 

Few, indeed, were we when General Stryker joined us — 
only thirty-four hereditary and five honorary members. To- 
day, thanks to the untiring zeal of that prince of men, Presi- 
dent Clifford Stanley Sims, supplemented by the efforts of 
Secretaries Ogden and Spencer, we have grown until we 
number almost as many as when our society was instituted 
in 1783, eighty-four hereditary and ten honorary members 
being on our roll. Twenty-five years have passed and we 
find but four of our present number were members when 
General Stryker became known as a Cincinnatus. 

Feeling the honor and dignity of the position you gave 
him, General Stryker entered upon the duties of his office 
with that same zeal that elsewhere had shown what were 
the possibilities of the man. You, gentlemen, knew him as 
your presiding officer, courteous, ready, always happy in 
bringing to us some one we delighted to hear. You have in 
your possession the record prepared by him of those that 
were before you as well as those of the present, prepared in 



22 Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 

such a way that its accuracy can hardly be questioned — a 
book which is not equaled by that of any other society. You 
know of our Year Book; the monumenting by this society 
of almost forgotten places, and making fresh the incidents 
connected therewith. You know the position he held in the 
councils of our Order. But you little realize the debt that 
the Society of the Cincinnati in the State of New Jersey 
owes to this man for the hours spent in research ; for the let- 
ters written to find out facts connected with our Order ; for 
the aid quietly extended to those of our number less fortu- 
nate than himself ; all this will never be known but to his 
God. 

President Sims aroused to life a dormant body, making it 
strong. President Stryker took this body, supplementing 
and extending it until to-day this Society of the Cincinnati 
in the State of New Jersey is recognized as one of the most 
active and energetic of the State Societies of the Order of 
the Cincinnati. 

The gathering of July 4, 1900, was over. You, gentle- 
men, had gone to your several homes, and General Stryker 
and myself were left alone. As I look back upon that even- 
ing it seems as if prophetic vision were given him, a pre- 
monition that Time for him would soon give place to 
Eternity. 

Conversing upon the incidents of the day, the possi- 
bilities of the future, and the work that should be done, he 
said: “It seems to me as if we were at the dividing of the 
ways. Old things are not alone to be thought of, but we 
should take as an order a lively interest in the duties of the 
present. For the more I study our institution the more I 
am convinced that this is a part of our work. But who is 
to do it? Soon you and I will be numbered with those 
who are no more. Those who are active to-day will be 
silent — gone to their long home. We must bring out the 
young men. We must show them that there is something 
more than sitting around the social board. This, I believe, 
is a duty we owe to our Order and to our Country/' 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


23 


The voice that spoke those words is to-day hushed, never 
again to be heard by us, but I bring this thought to you 
as a legacy from him, well loved and honored. I ask you, 
gentlemen, will you receive it? 

Silently the shades of evening fell upon us, and as night’s 
curtain was thrown about us we felt the influence of being 
alone with Nature and Nature’s God. Suddenly breaking 
the silence, he said: “When I am gone I wonder what will 
be said of me?” 

Ah, General, the knowledge that you sought on that 
summer’s evening may be yours now, as with the host of 
ministering spirits you watch o’er the loved ones you may 
hear that 

“He who with bold and skillful hand sweeps o’er 
The organ keys of some cathedral pile, 

Flooding with music vault, and nave, and aisle, 

Though on his ear falls but a thund’rous roar, 

In the composer’s lofty motive free, 

Knows well that all that temple, vast and dim, 

Thrills to its base with anthem, psalm and hymn, 

True to the changeless laws of harmony, 

So he who on these changing chords of life, 

With firm, sweet touch plays the Great Master’s score 
Of truth, and love, and duty, evermore, 

Knows, too, that far beyond this roar and strife, 

Though he may never hear, in the true time 
These notes must all accord in symphonies sublime.” 

Dr. Humphreys — The next upon this order of exercises 
so carefully prepared by one who has gone before, is a name 
unnecessary for me to introduce to such a meeting as this. 
I call upon Attorney-General Grey. 

Hon. Mr. Grey: The death of Major-General Stryker not 
only diminishes the number of those, too, few, indeed, who in 
the Order of the Cincinnati strive to keep alive the spirit of 
patriotism which animated our Revolutionary fathers and in- 
spired them to those deeds of heroic self-sacrifice, constancy 


24 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


and courage which carried the Revolutionary struggle to a 
triumphant issue, but it removes from among us one whose 
kindly sense of honor and of duty, whose gracious and court- 
ly spirit, whose unselfish consideration for others, had en- 
deared him to us all and had entwined about his character 
our highest admiration and our warmest affection. While of 
the most courtly manner, gentle and considerate, he was, as 
well, firm, resolute and steadfast of his own thoughtful and 
well considered opinion. Never aggressive, never obstinately 
opinionated, yet a conclusion once reached was not a fleeting 
fancy, but a firm and fixed conviction — it was not ephemeral 
and evanescent, but when deliberately formed it was not 
capriciously changed. 

General Stryker was the son of Thomas Johnson Stryker 
and Hannah Scudder Stryker. His family was of Dutch 
origin. The original name was spelled S-t-r-y-c-k-e-r. The 
ancestor from whom he was descended was Jan Strycker, 
who left Holland in 1652 and settled in New Amsterdam 
(New York). There he became one of its twenty Burghers. 
He was a member of the Landt Dag during the Governor- 
ship of Peter Stuyvesant. On his mother’s side, Nathaniel 
Scudder, one of her ancestors, was a member of the Conti- 
nental Congress, and the only member of that body who 
was killed during the war. Her name was Hannah Scud- 
der, daughter of John Scudder, of Scudder’s Falls. She was 
born September 30, 1804, and died March 26, 1842, when 
the subject of this sketch was but four years old. She was 
a woman of gentle, amiable and lovely character, affectionate 
and considerate, from whom, no doubt, many of the admir- 
able traits which were characteristic of General Stryker 
came. His father was a man of somewhat impulsive char- 
acter, easily excited, but of the sturdiest integrity and the 
highest sense of honor. He was for many years the cashier 
of the Trenton Banking Company, and died while still in 
possession of that office, September 28, 1872, distinguished 
among his fellow citizens for his probity and independence, 
after having served the bank in this important capacity for 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


25 


a period of thirty years. A fair conception of his character 
may be gathered from the fact that he was everybody’s con- 
fidential adviser in important matters, and the executor of 
almost every man’s will. The widow and the orphan, other- 
wise forsaken and friendless, always found in him a firm 
and faithful friend. 

General Stryker was born in Trenton June 6, 1838. His 
boyhood was passed in this town, and he was remarkable 
among his school companions as a thoroughly good boy. 
This character he seems to have established by the uniform 
excellence of his conduct; and, although his superiority in 
this regard was recognized by his companions, he was al- 
ways treated with a degree of respect which his manly char- 
acter commanded. 

His early education was received at the Trenton Academy, 
under the tutelage of David Cole, Principal, and Samuel 
Backus, his assistant. I am indebted to Colonel Dickinson 
for an anecdote of his school days which seems so charac- 
teristic of the man, as well as of the boy, that I venture to 
repeat it. Upon one occasion, just as the school was assem- 
bling, some boy shouted “Fox Chase!” and immediately the 
entire school was seized with a tumultuous enthusiasm and 
dashed away, running like hares for miles into the country. 
Stryker alone remained. The others, who had thus escaped 
from the restraints of school life for half a day, were all 
subjected to proper punishment the following day. Colonel 
Dickinson has also told me that during the time that he 
was at school with General Stryker he did not recall a single 
instance in which he had broken any rule, departed from 
any regulation or subjected himself to any admonition. This 
is certainly a very remarkable record for an active, manly 
youth, and demonstrates the extreme conscientiousness 
which was always characteristic of General Stryker. 

After receiving such education as the Trenton Academy 
afforded he prepared to enter Princeton University in the 
sophomore class. Here he spent three years, graduating in 
the class of 1858. During his college career he displayed 


/ 


26 Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 

the same characteristics which had distinguished him while a 
boy at school. He was quiet, amiable, thoughtful and 
considerate, and, while not a brilliant scholar, he maintained 
a good record in his class. During this period he became 
a personal friend of President McLean, who showed for 
him many marks of esteem and affection. It was his habit 
to have General Stryker at his house and to make of him 
a companion and associate. His tastes at this period were 
literary; in fact, he showed a decided aptitude for poetry. 
I am indebted to Dr. Samuel S. S. Stryker for this informa- 
tion, through whom I have also learned that the Rev. Dr. 
Addison Henry (who was a room-mate of General Stryker 
during part of his college life, but who graduated a year 
before) said that at the time of his graduation young 
Stryker was assigned a poem, quite an exceptional honor. 
This poem made a very favorable impression and was con- 
sidered a very clever production. Dr. Henry’s impression 
is that it was published, although I have not been able to 
obtain a copy of it. After his graduation from Princeton 
University he began the study of law in the office of the late 
Barker Gummere, Esq., but before he had completed his 
course of study the breaking out of the war awakened his 
patriotic feeling, and he enlisted on the first call for troops. 

He was a man whose sense of duty was imperious. He 
shirked no labor in the discharge of any obligation that 
was put upon him. Indeed, it may be said that had he 
been more thoughtful and careful of himself he might yet 
be with us. It is unnecessary for me, in view of the sketches 
of his career which have been made by the Military Order 
of the Loyal Legion, of which he was an honored member, 
and by General Orders No. 13, Office of the Adjutant- 
General of New Jersey, to do more than refer with extreme 
brevity to his connection with the National Guard. He 
became a private in Company A, First Regiment, Mercer 
Brigade New Jersey Militia, November 30, i860. He be- 
came a Major and Paymaster of the United States Volun- 
teers July 8, 1863, and was honorably discharged June 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


2 7 


30, 1866. He was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
United States Volunteers November 24, 1865, “for faith- 
ful and meritorious services during the war.” He was 
elected a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion 
November 10, 1880. He became a member of the military 
family of the Governor of New Jersey in January 10, 1867, 
and was made Adjutant-General on April 12, 1867. Gov- 
ernor Parker nominated him as Brevet Major-General Feb- 
ruary 9, 1874. 

The work that he did in the Adjutant-GeneraFs office 
was remarkable. He found the business of that office was 
conducted in but one room, the position was obscure and 
almost utterly insignificant. 

In this crowded room were filed the important papers, 
muster-in rolls, muster-out rolls, and much other military 
data covering the period of over four years of the Civil 
War. These were filed in wooden pigeon-holes and without 
adequate protection against fire. General Stryker proceeded 
at once to rearrange these valuable papers to meet the daily 
demands on him for data in settlement of claims arising 
from the war, &c., and to so arrange them that the informa- 
tion desired could be furnished without delay. This was a 
severe task when it is known that New Jersey furnished 
thirty-seven regiments of infantry, three regiments of cav- 
alry and one regiment of artillery. This arrangement and 
classification he accomplished to the satisfaction of all con- 
cerned. 

There were then on the files but little data pertaining to 
previous wars, as the Revolutionary Period, War of 1812, 
and War with Mexico, in all of which New Jersey took a 
prominent part. By direction of Governor Randolph, in a 
letter dated June 1, 1870, General Stryker began the colossal 
task of collecting the data to preserve to history the gallant 
and suffering services of New Jersey soldiery in the Revolu- 
tionary War, 1775 to 1783. In 1871 the Legislature directed 
the collected data to be printed, and on July 4, 1872, there 


28 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


was published the volume of so much interest and value, 
known as “Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolu- 
tionary War.” 

In 1873, the State Capitol building having been enlarged, 
the Adjutant-General was assigned an office on the first 
floor. Later, by reason of the fire at the Capitol, in March, 
1885, his office was detached from the Capitol building 
proper to a small room in the Dickinson Building, then 
opposite the Capitol. He remained there until the re- 
building of the Capitol after the fire, when he was assigned 
to the offices now occupied by the department. 

Later, under orders, he began the publication of the 
“Record of Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Civil 
War, 1861-1865.” This work was issued in 1876, and at 
once took its place in the archives of the public as the most 
complete, simple and comprehensive printed record of this 
war period. It is authority at the several departments of the 
United States Government having official dealings with our 
soldiery. 

A comparison of the arrangement of the office records at 
this time will evidence the intelligent direction of General 
Stryker, who, through years of effort, secured for New 
Jersey the completest records possessed by any State con- 
cerning its early and later military history. In that office 
may be found much data pertaining to the Colonial period 
from 1666 to 1775; the Revolutionary War period, 1775 to 
1783; New Jersey’s part in the Miami Indian Expedition, 
in the Northwest (St. Clair’s defeat), 1791; the insurrection 
in Western Pennsylvania, of 1794; the war with Great 
Britain, 1812-1815; the war with Mexico, 1846 to 1848; 
the Civil War, 1861 to 1865; the Spanish-American War, 
1898 to 1899; also the early records of the State militia 
prior to the organization of the National Guard, March 9, 
1869, and the several organizations thereof in detail to this 
date. In fact, by reason of his active personal supervision 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


29 


this office contains to-day a most valuable collection of the 
military history of our State. 

A compilation of the records of the several wars in which 
New Jersey has been engaged was begun by General 
Stryker, by order of the Legislature of 1898, and will soon 
be completed, printed and issued, when the public at large 
will have valuable official information concerning the 
military records of New Jersey. 

In numerical order he was the thirteenth Adjutant- 
General of the State, the first incumbent of this office being 
Col. William Bott, who was appointed November 28, 1776, 
and resigned June 4, 1793. Of this period of nearly 125 
years General Stryker was in active service for thirty-three 
years — about one-quarter of the entire time. Not only was 
his service a long and faithful one, but his contributions to 
the military history of the State were absolutely unequaled 
by any of his predecessors. Of course such a man, with 
such a history, could not be removed from his sphere of 
usefulness without exciting the warmest expressions of re- 
gret and regard, not only among those with whom he was 
in daily contact, the officers of the State, who were in 
intimate association and connection with him, the National 
Guard, which numbered in its ranks some of his warmest 
friends and admirers, but even from the most distant points 
in the national territory came affectionate tributes to* his 
memory, among them a letter from one of the officers of 
the Forty-sixth Infantry, who was indebted to General 
Stryker for his commission, which is an eloquent expression 
of his sorrow and grief upon his receipt of General Orders, 
No. 13, from the Adjutant-General's office, of New Jersey, 
announcing the death of General Stryker. I read the letter 
of First Lieutenant Terence E. Murphy, Forty-sixth In- 
fantry, U. S. V., of which Adjutant-General Oliphant has 
been kind enough to favor me with a copy: 



30 Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 

“Silang, Cavite Prov., P. I., December 22, 1900. 

“Col A. C. Oliphant, Assistant Adjutant-General , National 
Guard of New Jersey , Trenton , N. 

'‘Sir — I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of General 
Orders, No. 13, of your office, announcing the death of 
General Stryker. 

“I can but poorly express how deeply impressed I am 
with the order which spreads before me the military and 
civil history of the man who throughout the years of his 
long official life did so much for the National Guard of our 
State. It is certainly a record of which all who had the 
honor and privilege of his friendship may be justly proud. 
During my acquaintance with General Stryker, extending 
over a period of fifteen years, I was duly impressed with 
one trait of his character that is not mentioned in the official 
order, but which was, perhaps, not the least noteworthy 
of his many eminent qualities. I refer to the natural 
kindliness of his disposition and the unfailing endeavor to 
help and to advance the interests of those younger officers 
of the Guard who by their acts showed themselves worthy. 
I am sure that I only voice the sentiment of many others 
in saying that this was one of his most striking qualities, 
and I take the greatest pleasure in recalling many instances 
of his personal kindness to me of the nature mentioned. 

“ While we all mourn his death as removing from among 
us a most useful citizen and fellow soldier, I myself feel his 
death to be a personal bereavement, by which I have lost a 
dear and ever faithful friend, one whom it will be difficult, 
if not impossible, ever to replace. And I sincerely join with 
the many who loved him in grieving that we shall see his 
kindly face and hear his cheering voice no more. 

“To his family and friends I extend this feeble expression 
of my sympathy for them in their great loss, which is 
scarcely less mine than theirs. 

“Very respectfully, Terence E. Murphy, 
“First Lieutenant, Forty-sixth Infantry, U. S. V.” 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


3i 


The touching eloquence of this tribute is so marked that 
by order of Governor Voorhees this letter has been placed 
among the official files of the department. 

I might well stop here in my record of the useful life of 
our late president, but I am so much impressed with an- 
other valuable feature of his career that I cannot refrain 
from referring to it. 

One of General Stryker’s strongest claims upon the grat- 
itude of Jerseymen rests upon his literary labors, his liberal 
contributions to the history of his State. He was indefat- 
igable in his efforts to get at the truth, and he was generous 
and fearless in the vindication of a reputation whenever he 
discovered a wrong to be righted. 

For a hundred years the battle of the pamphleteers had 
raged over the question of the loyalty of Col. Joseph Reed, 
Adjutant-General on the staff of Washington. More than 
sixty years after the close of the Revolutionary War, Wil- 
liam B. Reed, grandson of Colonel Reed, discharged with 
great ability the filial duty of defending the character and 
memory of his grandfather against the venomous, and, as 
the event proved, unfounded attacks which had been made 
upon them. Still, public opinion had settled upon the con- 
clusion that all accusations that had been made were true 
and that Colonel Reed was a traitor to the American cause. 
So firmly had this conviction been fixed in the public mind 
that it had been treated as a historical fact by no less an 
authority than Mr. Bancroft. Undeterred by the apparently 
hopeless task of uprooting this unjust accusation, which had 
stained the memory of a worthy officer, General Stryker, 
strong in the consciousness that he had mastered all the facts 
and possessed himself of the truth of history instead of the 
falsehood which had always masqueraded as such, undaunted 
by the well-known and distinguished character of the great 
historian, unhesitatingly entered the lists in defence of the 
honor and memory of a man who had no other claim upon 
him than that he was one of Washington’s military family, 


32 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


that he had been grossly wronged by the accusations which 
had been made against him, that he was a patriot and not 
a traitor, and that his memory should be cherished as that 
of a true man, an officer and a gentleman and not traduced 
and vilified by false and disgraceful charges. On the 26th 
of January, 1876, and again on the 9th of February, 1876, 
General Stryker addressed to Dr. George H. Moore, of the 
New York Historical Society, two letters: 

“State of New Jersey, 

; -y “Office of Adjutant-General, 

“Trenton, January 26, 1876. 

“Dr. George H. Moore } New York Historical Society , New 
York City : 

“My Dear Sir — As a searcher after historical truth, I 
desire to present you with some facts which I have lately 
discovered in reference to one of the charges made against 
Col. Joseph Reed, Adjutant-General to General Washington, 
that he took protection from the enemy during the Revo- 
lutionary War. 

“The data which I shall give you were not ascertained 
until my work, 'Jerseymen in the Revolutionary War/ was 
in print, and therefore the final record of the officer I shall 
refer to does not appear therein. 

“In Mr. Bancroft’s 'History of the United States/ 9th 
Vol., page 229, we find in the original text, as a footnote, an 
extract from the diary of Colonel Von Donop, the Hessian 
commander of the advance guard of the British Army, dated 
December 21, 1776. 

“Again, in the pamphlet, ’Joseph Reed, a Historical Essay 
by George Bancroft/ page 27, the same passage is repeated, 
with translation added : 

“ 'Colonel Reed, who lately received a Protection, is said 
to have gone up to General Mifflin and declared to him that 
he was not disposed to serve any longer, upon which Mifflin 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


33 


met him very harshly, and evei\ called him a damned 
'rascal.’ 

"Allow me to call your attention to the record of a certain 
Colonel Read, of New Jersey: 

"On the 27th day of November, 1776, in compliance with 
Washington’s request, the Legislature of this State passed 
an act to organize State Troops, by embodying, as occasion 
required, a certain quota of volunteers from the militia of 
the different counties. 

"The law contemplated the raising of four battalions, on 
account of 'the present situation of public affairs, and par- 
ticularly the invasion of the State by the enemy.’ These bat- 
talions were to be 'immediately got in readiness and marched 
to join the army under the command of His Excellency 
General Washington.’ They were to continue in service until 
the 1st day of April, 1777. One of the battalions to be 
formed was to consist of three companies from the county 
of Middlesex, two companies from the county of Mon- 
mouth, and three companies from the county of Burlington. 
For this battalion Charles Read, the Colonel of the Second 
Battalion of Burlington Militia, was detailed as Colonel to 
command. 

"The records of this office show that Charles Read was in 
commission as Colonel, and Thomas Seabrook, of First 
Battalion, Monmouth Militia, as Lieutenant-Colonel of said 
Battalion of State Troops, and it does not appear that the 
Battalion ever did any service under these officers, for 
Lieutenant-Colonel Seabrook 'refused taking the oaths of 
* the State,’ and Colonel Read took protection from the 
enemy. 

"During the 'Confusion of the Times’ the Legislature 
adjourned December 2d, 1776, from Burlington to Trenton. 
But on the 22d of January, 1777, they met in Pittstown, 
and on the 29th we find them at session at Haddonfield, 
sixteen miles from Mount Holly. During the month of 
February the Legislature was busily employed in organizing 


34 



Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 

the Second Establishment, Continental Line. These mat- 
ters undoubtedly delayed the reorganization of the Militia 
and State Troops, and the conduct of Colonel Read did not 
become officially public. But on the 15th day of March, 
1 777, Governor Livingstone, in a special message, reported: 

" 'Colonel Charles Read, of one of the Burlington Bat- 
talions, is in such a situation with Respect to his having 
submitted to the Enemy, that it is not probable he will 
act any longer in that office/ 

“I take it for granted that Colonel Von Donop thought the 
force in front of him was commanded by General Mifflin, 
who certainly was on his way to Lancaster, Penn., at that 
time, and that he referred to a conversation held by a 
Colonel Reed with Colonel Samuel Griffin, a name sounding 
not unlike Mifflin, who was at that time doing all in his 
power to harass the British troops. 

"Without entering into the discussion as to the where- 
abouts of Colonel Joseph Reed between the 14th of De- 
cember, when the Hessian advance entered the Black 
Horse, and the 21st of December, when the entry was 
made in the diary, it certainly does appear to me that he 
could not have taken protection during that time, have had 
this interview with the commander of the American troops 
opposing the Hessian column, been entrusted by letter of 
Washington, dated December 23d, and then fail to com- 
municate the same to Von Donop, only six miles away. 

"I ask your candid opinion, is it not altogether probable 
that Colonel Charles Read, who had large landed interests 
in Burlington county, while on his way from Mount Holly 
to his home in the southern part of the county, might have 
been the Read who, having 'lately received protection/ told 
Griffin 'that he was not disposed to serve any longer’? 

"I am, very truly yours, 

"William S. Stryker, 

1 "Adjutant- General of New Jersey. ,, 


\ 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


35 


"State of New Jersey, 

j ; I * • "Office of Adjutant-General, 

"Trenton, February 9th, 1876. 
“Dr. George H. Moore , New York Historical Society , New 
York City: 

"My Dear Sir — I desire to add another fact bearing on 
the subject concerning which I addressed you in my letter 
of January 26th. 

"Since writing you I have seen an extract from the 
official report of Colonel Donop, from his headquarters at 
Bordentown, to Major-General Grant, at New Brunswick. 
The passage I quote is of the same date, December 21st, 
1776, as the entry in his diary before alluded to : 

"While Donop’s diary is in German, his report to his 
British commanding officer is in French, and French of a 
very indifferent quality. However, the meaning is clear 
that General Mifflin (referring to Colonel Griffin) had ad- 
vanced his rebel corps to the bridge on the Moorestown 
road, three miles from Mount Holly. That Colonel 
Reed had met him near this bridge and had the conversa- 
tion before referred to, and that Mifflin had, as it appeared, 
taken him off as a prisoner, as he had not since been seen 
at the Black Horse. 

"I desire to call your attention to the fact that the 
bridge spoken of here is on the road which Colonel Charles 
Read, of the Burlington Militia, would have taken when- 
ever he traveled between Mount Holly and his home. 

"It is apparent, also, that Colonel Griffin did carry off 
Colonel Charles Read as Colonel Donop reported. In the 
Memorandum Book of the Council of Safety of Pennsyl- 
vania, which may be found in the office of the Secretary 
of the Commonwealth at Harrisburg, we find just one 
month later Colonel Read of New Jersey in Philadelphia, 
and in the custody of Colonel Richard Humpton, then com- 
manding nth Pennsylvania Regiment Continental Line. 


36 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


“The following is the extract: 

“ 'January 21st, 1777 — The following prisoners taken in 
New Jersey were sent by Col. Humpton to the Council: 

“ 'Col. Charles Read, discharged on giving his word not 
to quit Phil., without leave.’ 

“This memorandum is noted in Pennsylvania Archives, 
Second Series, Vol. 1, page 496. 

“I think this is additional proof that Von Donop refers in 
his diary, and in his report of the same date, to Colonel 
Read, 2d Burlington Battalion, New Jersey Militia, who re- 
ceived a protection, was taken prisoner, and then gave his 
parole, and not to Colonel Reed, the Adjutant-General of the 
Army. I am yours, very sincerely, 

“William S. Stryker, 
“Adjutant-General of New Jersey.” 

In these letters General Stryker not only demonstrated the 
error into which the writers of history had been betrayed, 
but he performed this generous act at the expense of the 
memory of a native of his own State (Colonel Read, Second 
Burlington Battalion), upon whom was justly cast the odium 
which had previously attached to the memory of Colonel 
Reed, of Pennsylvania. So strongly was Mr. Bancroft im- 
pressed by the evidence produced by General Stryker, which 
demonstrated his own error, that he wrote him, under date 
of February 10th, 1876, “I have * * * perceived the 

bearing of your discoveries and have profited by them. May 
I ask of you the favor to permit me to be the first to an- 
nounce them to the public? If you will do so, you may be 
sure that I shall give all the honor to you, to whom is due 
the clearing up of what before was indistinct and perplex- 
ing.” And in the Centenary Edition of Bancroft’s History 
of the United States, Vol. V., Chap. XIII., page 479, he adds 
this note to the passage referring to the matter : 

“From discoveries recently made in the New Jersey 
archives by Adjutant- General William S. Stryker, I think 
there can be no doubt that the Colonel Reed referred to in 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


37 


this passage, and in the corresponding words of the Von 
Donop German Diary, was Col. Charles Read, of New Jer- 
sey, who is known to have 'submitted to the enemy/ ” 

General Stryker was justly proud that he had succeeded 
in removing from the memory of Colonel Reed the blacken- 
ing slander, and, in a letter addressed to me upon another 
subject in 1894, he said, referring to this matter: 

"It is indeed a pleasure to me to remove the stain which 
has injured the reputation of a gallant Revolutionary officer. 
It was a singular feeling that came over me when in 1876 
I helped to clear the name of Joseph Reed, a Trentonian by 
birth, and Adjutant-General of the Continental Army, from 
the imputation of having taken 'protection' from Col. Von 
Donop, the Hessian officer, in 1776. Some months ago I re- 
ceived more than a thousand pages of German documents 
relating to the campaign in New Jersey in 1776-77 from the 
King's Royal archives in Marburg, Germany, and I have 
just read a copy of the first letter written by Col. Joseph 
Reed to Von Donop. This letter has never been published, 
but Mr. Bancroft, the historian, and others have charged 
Colonel Reed with being a traitor to the cause of liberty 
because he wrote this letter for the purpose of saving Bur- 
lington from being occupied by Von Donop's soldiers, and 
consequently from being shelled from the American galleys 
on the Delaware River. But this letter distinctly states that 
he writes by ‘instruction of General Washington,' and, pray, 
wherein was Reed wrong in writing by order of the great 
chieftain on whose staff he served ? After the lapse of more 
than a century documents are now coming to the light which 
straighten out the errors of history." Surely this was gen- 
erosity of the highest type. Such was the character of the 
late president of our society. 

Again, no officer of the Continental Army, perhaps, was 
more generally disliked, not to say detested, than Gen. 
Charles Lee. His character was not one to awaken esteem. 
His military talent was unquestionable. He had had large 


38 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


experience in the art of war as practiced in Europe; more, 
perhaps, than any other officer. But he was selfish, vain 
and arrogant; an English soldier of fortune who for his 
own ends had embarked his fortunes with the Continental 
Army. His conduct at Monmouth was so scandalous and 
outrageous that the patience of Washington was not suffi- 
cient, abundant as it was, to prevent him rebuking Lee in 
severe terms on the field of battle and in the presence of his 
officers and men. Tradition has it that he swore at him. 
Yet General Stryker, although he held the character of 
Washington in the highest admiration as the greatest man 
of his time and the Saviour as well as the Father of his 
Country, did not hesitate to defend Lee against the accusa- 
tions which were hurled against him by his contemporaries 
and the imputation of treason and of imbecility which was 
put upon him. General Stryker, feeling that absolute justice 
had not been done to General Lee, and inspired by a knightly 
sense of duty to right the wrong done him, came to the 
defence of this, as we have all considered him, odious man, 
and unhesitatingly presented an argument exculpatory and 
explanatory of his conduct. Here again we have an evi- 
dence of the generous judgment of him whose virtues we 
are here to-day to commemorate. Observe the opinion of a 
just, but I fear all too generous, critic. He say, speaking of 
Lee's retreat, inexplicable as it has always been considered, 
‘Tt is fair to presume that General Lee believed Clinton’s 
force too great for him to fight with any hope of success; 
that his own division was likely to be overwhelmed before 
Washington could come to his support, and that, therefore, 
a short retreat would be best.” 

While we may not agree with General Stryker’s ex- 
planation, nor change the opinion which many of us have 
formed of General Lee’s conduct on this occasion, we can- 
not fail to recognize the magnanimous character of General 
Stryker’s defense of Lee’s memory from the odious charges 
which history records against him ; although his im- 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


39 


pressions of the man, as given in his own words, were that 
“General Lee’s life was full of complaints, of disagreements 
with his comrades, of quarrels with his superior officers. His 
temper and speech were rough and vindictive; his morals 
were bad ; his conversation was full of impiety and pro- 
fanity. But with all these personal characteristics — with full 
knowledge of his nationality and his early training — keeping 
in mind also the Plan which he had beforehand given to 
General Plowe for the subjugation of America, it is scarcely 
just to ascribe his conduct on the battlefield of Monmouth 
to disloyalty, or to assume that he did anything but what his 
military judgment might have approved, or any other gen- 
eral officer perfectly true to the cause might have done.” 

General Stryker was a diligent searcher after historical 
truths. He spared himself no labor, but sifted and searched 
through the atoms of tradition and rescued from the his- 
torical dust heap many apparently insignificant but really 
valuable and always interesting and instructive facts. 

What could be more charming that his “ Story of the Bat- 
tle of Trenton/’ a pamphlet of twenty-five pages, written, as 
he says, “after fifteen years of study of German records and 
German diaries at Hesse Cassel and at Marburg, and the 
closest scrutiny of letters written by participants in the bat- 
tle.” After thus familiarizing himself with the facts, inspired 
by the brief and eloquent description of those days of in- 
tense anxiety and apprehension, of which Paine said in “The 
Crisis,” quoted by General Stryker : “These are the times 
that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine 
patriot will in this crisis shrink from the service of war; 
but he that stands it now deserves the thanks of man and 
woman” — with such an inspiration, and with such a fund of 
original and valuable information to draw upon, he wrote 
this interesting story of this early battle in the war for the 
independence of the colonies. In this sketch we see the sur- 
prise of the Hessians; we follow with anxious fears the 
struggle from place to place (still recognizable after the 


40 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


lapse of one hundred and twenty-five years) between the 
patriots and the courageous mercenaries of the King; we 
observe the varying fortunes of the battle, and, at last, we 
rejoice in the triumph of the Colonial Troops in this the 
first engagement of magnitude in its consequences in which 
they had up to this time embarked. 

General Stryker's interest in everything of a historical 
character was absorbing, and, fortunately for us and for fu- 
ture generations, his industry has preserved, in several en- 
tertaining and instructive monographs, sketches of locali- 
ties associated with the early history of our State and 
Country. 

Among these was the paper read by him before the His- 
torical Society of New Jersey, January 20, 1881, upon “The 
Old Barracks at Trenton." In this paper he has gathered 
up the petitions on file in the military records of the State, 
in one of which the magistrates, freeholders and inhabitants 
of the Town of Trenton petitioned the General Assembly at 
Burlington, in the quaint style of the period, “That this 
Honorable House would speedily take it into consideration 
and enable us to erect and build such sufficient and con- 
venient barracks, * * * or to give us such other ade- 

quate remedy, in such measure, and with such power and au- 
thority, and with such clauses, provisos and restrictions as 
to this Honorable House in their wisdom shall think meet 
and fit." 

It is difficult to believe, in these peaceful times, that the 
situation described in the recitals of the petitions referred 
to by General Stryker could have ever existed in the cap- 
itol of the State of New Jersey. In a petition, quoted by 
General Stryker, and addressed to “His Excellency, Jona- 
than Belcher, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and 
for His Majesty's Province of New Jersey, and territories 
thereon depending, in America; Chancellor and Vice-Ad- 
miral in the same, &c., in Council," it is recited that “the 
inhuman barbarities committed by the Indians have depopu- 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


4i 


lated, distressed and laid waste the back inhabitants of some 
of our neighboring provinces, especially Pennsylvania, and 
that they have given too much reason to suspect and fear 
that they will make an inroad upon the frontiers of our prov- 
ince, and will soon penetrate into the very body of the same, 
and if not protected we see no remedy left to secure our- 
selves from being made a sacrifice to their bloodthirsty wills, 
when nothing but blood, the sword, fire and famine must 
be the event.” 

How unlike the present situation is this frightful picture 
of the conditions existing 150 years ago? Then our 
ancestors were in mortal dread lest the brutal savages 
should attack and slaughter themselves and their families; 
then the farmer could not, in security, till the soil; the 
merchant could not, with safety, engage in trade, and the 
whole social order was threatened with destruction. Now 
the village of Trenton, which suffered these apprehensions, 
has been supplanted by a magnificent metropolis; the 
legislators of the State, with a population of nearly 2,000,000 
— almost equal to the entire population of the whole 
thirteen colonies at the time this petition was presented — 
annually assemble, undisturbed by any fear of an attack 
by any enemy, much less of the onslaught of bands of 
savages, who, generations ago, yielded to the advancing 
tide of civilization, and have been carried westward, like a 
chip upon the breast of a flood, to the remotest confines of 
our magnificent country. 

The old barracks still remain, but slightly changed from 
the original form in which they stood in 1756, and within 
a hundred yards of these defences of an early civilization 
stands the State Capitol in which we are now assembled. 

One of the papers prepared by General Stryker, which 
will always be interesting to the people of Trenton, was 
printed by him for private distribution in 1893, and 
described the State Capitol as it was 100 years ago. This 
sketch is another evidence of the diligent industry of its 


42 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


author. In the introductory portion of it he gives the 
sources from which he obtained the information upon 
which he bases his extremely entertaining sketch. In ad- 
dition to examining Dr. Hall’s “History of the Presby- 
terian Church, Trenton,” Mr. Raum’s “History of the City 
of Trenton,” and notes furnished by Mr. Raum from news- 
papers published in Philadelphia, General Stryker con- 
sulted maps obtained from Cassel and Marburg in Ger- 
many. From these various sources, and from tradition 
derived from gentlemen whose names he mentions, to wit.: 
Dr. James B. Coleman, Mr. Benjamin Fish, Mr. John R. 
Dill, Mr. Jasper S. Scudder and Mr. John McCully, he 
builds this sketch. Instead of a city gridironed with streets, 
the town of Trenton, as it was at the period of which 
General Stryker treats, had apparently two streets. One 
was Front street, upon which were the old barracks, which, 
as he described it, began at Queen street and passed 
through the lower end of King street, and thence turned 
northward on what is now Willow street, to the River road; 
the other ran parallel with Front street, and was called 
Second (now State), and began on what is now the corner 
of State and Willow, crossed King and Queen streets, and, 
after passing the Presbyterian church, became a country 
road, leading through an apple orchard to an iron foundry 
and steel works on the creek, erected by Samuel Henry in 
1769. Petty’s Run passed through the village, an open 
stream, flowing direct into the Assunpink a few yards from 
its mouth. 

It would be difficult for the most diligent investigator 
to discover Petty's Run at this time, covered as it is by 
handsome dwellings and large buildings of different char- 
acter, entirely concealed in its passage beneath State street, 
and finding an outlet into the present water power. Petty’s 
Run has disappeared as absolutely and entirely as the 
stream of which it was an affluent. It would not be easy 
for a denizen of the city of Trenton of the time of which 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


43 


General Stryker spoke to discover Assunpink Creek, cov- 
ered as it is by houses and two broad highways. Many 
of the buildings of which General Stryker makes mention 
have disappeared, among them the frame dwelling house 
of Stacy Potts, opposite Perry street, in which Colonel 
Rahl had his headquarters during the Battle of Trenton, 
and where, after the battle, he died of the wounds which he 
had received. The Catholic Cathedral now stands where 
Mr. Potts’ house formerly stood. 

This sketch is filled with entertaining anecdotes of dif- 
ferent Trentonians of an early period. 

Another paper of General Stryker’s, read on the 15th of 
October, 1895, at the dedication of a monument at Taylors- 
ville, Pa., by the Bucks County Historical Society, and of 
a memorial tablet at Washington Crossing, N. J., by the 
Society of the Cincinnati of New Jersey, describes the con- 
dition of the Continental Army at the crossing of the Dela- 
ware River on Christmas night, 1776. At this early period 
in the history of American warfare the efficacy of spades 
and pickaxes as a means of defence seems to have been 
recognized, for Colonel Stark, in the military council which 
preceded the crossing of the river, reproached General 
Washington for what he regarded as a fault in the army 
in placing its dependence for safety “upon spades and pick- 
axes instead of firearms and courage.” 

The gallant colonel apparently did not fully appreciate 
the inestimable value of defensive works. In these days of 
military arms of precision, when as many bullets can be 
discharged from a single weapon in the course of an hour 
as could have been delivered by an army armed with the 
old flintlock musket in a day, the value of earthworks is 
more highly appreciated. 

After General Stryker became president of this society 
he read a “Study of George Washington” at its meeting 
four years ago, and in the following May he delivered an 
address upon “The Heroes of the Revolution” at the dinner 



44 Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 

of the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati, upon 
the occasion of the unveiling of the Washington Monu- 
ment in Fairmount Park. 

“The Study of Washington” is a discriminative eulogy 
upon his life and character, and “The Heroes of the 
Revolution,” although but an after-dinner speech, rises 
above the standard of such post-prandial efforts, and is an 
expression of a mind full of the subject of which it treats. 

There were three papers of important historical interest 
prepared by General Stryker after he became Adjutant-Gen- 
eral. One was “The New Jersey Continental Line,” which 
was printed for private distribution in 1882. In this paper 
General Stryker gives a short history of the Continental 
Line, filled with entertaining and striking anecdotes, among 
others, the story of Private Charles Morgan, of Captain 
Jonathan Forman’s Company, of the First New Jersey Regi- 
ment. Private Morgan was under the command of La- 
fayette, and was induced, under color of desertion to the 
British Army, to spy into their condition. Before undertak- 
ing this perilous task he exacted a promise from General 
Lafayette that if he was detected and suffered death his true 
character should be widely published in the New Jersey 
Gazettes, so as to relieve his family and friends from the 
imputation that he was a deserter. He reached the enemy’s 
camp, and by a plausible explanation prevented suspicion. 
He was a good soldier, and one day was asked by Cornwallis 
how long it would take Lafayette to cross James River. He 
answered : “Three hours, My Lord ; he has so many boats 
and so many men, and if you calculate, you will see that it 
only will take three hours.” This information was appar- 
ently accepted by Cornwallis as true, and some scheme 
which he had in view was abandoned. Morgan afterward 
induced five men to desert with him from the British Army 
and re-entered the American lines with what information he 
had gathered. General Lafayette offered him money and 
promotion. He refused both. He would take no pay for 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


45 


any work as a spy; he modestly declared himself to be un- 
fitted for an officer, and all he desired was the restoration 
of his gun. This is a charming story which is not so widely 
known as it ought to be. 

It may be mentioned in this connection that General Stry- 
ker's father, Thomas J. Stryker, was one of those who, in 
1824, upon the occasion of the visit of Lafayette to this 
country, subscribed to a fund for his entertainment at 
dinner. 

In 1884 General Stryker read a paper before the New 
Jersey Historical Society descriptive of the conduct of Gen- 
eral Maxwell's brigade of the New Jersey Continental Line 
in an expedition against the Indians in 1779. The General 
cites in this paper a letter signed by Brigadier-General Max- 
well, and seven officers of his force, addressed to “The Hon- 
orable John Sullivan, Esquire, Major-General and Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Western Army." This letter is ex- 
pressive of the high appreciation which the General and offi- 
cers who had signed it had of the skill and conduct of Gen- 
eral Sullivan. In it they say : “We are filled with the most 
agreeable sensations when we reflect upon the important suc- 
cess of this part of the American Army, and the harmony 
and universal satisfaction that subsists in it, which we are 
confident was owing in a great degree to your impartiality 
and superior abilities. We have the pleasure to assure your 
Honor that not only the officers but the soldiers unanimously 
approve of your conduct during your present command, and 
they trust it will be the same in future, whenever they shall 
have that honor." To this very cordial letter General Sulli- 
van responded in a letter full of dignity and feeling, in which 
he says : “Gentlemen — Your very affectionate and pleasing 
address demands my most sincere and cordial acknowledg- 
ments," and after some reference to the campaign and the 
commendable conduct of his troops, he thus closes this com- 
munication : “Should I be honored with the command of 
your brigade after my arrival at headquarters, permit me to 


4 6 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


assure you that there are no officers to whom I feel a greater 
attachment, or soldiers in whom I can place greater con- 
fidence/’ 

The last of the papers above referred to was upon “The 
Loyalist Volunteers in the Revolutionary War,” which was 
printed for private distribution in 1887. The number of au- 
thorities examined by General Stryker for the preparation 
of this paper fills a page, and is additional evidence of his 
characteristic diligence and industry. Among the Loyalist 
Volunteers was a former Attorney-General of New Jersey, 
Mr. Cortlandt Skinner, of whom this anecdote is given, pub- 
lished, as General Stryker says, in Brasher’s Journal in 
February, 1 777, in the form of a catechism: 

“Q. Who is the most ungrateful man in the world? 

“A. Governor Skinner. 

“ 0 . Why do you call him Governor? 

“A. Because when Lord and General Howe thought that 
they had conquered the Jerseys, they appointed him Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of the State. Skinner assumed that title 
over one-tenth part of the State and continued his usurpa- 
tion for six weeks, five days, thirty-six minutes, ten seconds 
and thirty-hundredths part of a second, and was then de- 
posed. 

“Q. Why is he called ungrateful? 

“A. Because he has joined the enemies of his country 
and enlisted men to fight against his neighbors, his friends 
and his kinsfolk ; because he has endeavored to transfer the 
soil that gave him bread from the rightful possessors to a 
foreign hand ; and because, to gain present ease and transi- 
tory honors, he would fasten the chains of slavery on three 
millions of people and their offspring forever.” 

To this short paper upon the New Jersey Loyalist is an- 
nexed a roster of the officers of the six battalions of the New 
Jersey Volunteers. 

In addition to these papers and sketches to which I have 
referred General Stryker wrote the following monographs: 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


47 


“Washington’s Reception by the People of New Jersey in 
1789,” “The Princeton Surprise, 1 777 ” "The Massacre 
Near Old Tappan,” “The Capture of the Block House at 
Toms River,” “The Affair at Egg Harbor,” all of which 
were printed, and the following manuscripts: “The Battle 
of Monmouth,” “The Forts on the Delaware,” and “The 
Fight at Hancock’s Bridge.” It is to be hoped that these 
unprinted manuscripts may, through the instrumentality of 
this society, be put into a more permanent form by publica- 
tion under its direction. 

While General Stryker’s literary labors were such as to 
entitle him to the most marked distinction, in recognition 
of the value of which his alma mater, Princeton University, 
conferred upon him in 1899 the degree of LL. D., he was 
prominent in many undertakings of a different character. 
He was the president of the Trenton Battle Monument 
Association, in which it may be said, without disparagement 
to the other gentlemen who were associated with him in 
that patriotic enterprise, that he was, for a time at least, 
practically the association. He was president of the 
Trenton Savings Fund Society, a director of the Trenton 
Banking Company, of which his father had for thirty years 
been cashier; a director in the Widows’ Home Association, 
a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, of which for 
many years he was a member; a trustee of the Princeton 
Theological Seminary, president of the New Jersey His- 
torical Society, a member of the New Jersey Society of the 
Sons of the American Revolution, of the Grand Army of 
the Republic, and of the Military Order of the Loyal 
Legion, a fellow of the American Geographical and 
Historical Society, and of the Royal Society of London, of 
the Pennsylvania Historical Society, and, in the right of his 
father’s family, he was a member of the Holland Society 
and of the Netherlands Society. 

On October 29, 1900, General Stryker, after a com- 
paratively brief illness, ended his useful career and finished 
his active life. Among those he loved, surrounded by his 


48 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


wife and children, he closed his eyes for the last time upon 
all earthly scenes. Thus ended a life which we may well 
strive to emulate. Loyal to his State, her history was his 
pride; diligent in public affairs, the discharge of his public 
duty was to him a delight ; faithful and true in every relation 
of life, he may well stand as an exemplar of those virtues 
the possession of which adorns the human character. 

The death of an officer who had served the State SO' long, 
so faithfully and so well could not pass without extraor- 
dinary notice. He was buried on November i, 1900, 
his body followed to the grave by the Major-General in 
command of the New Jersey Division of the National 
Guard and by almost every commissioned officer of that 
body. The Governor and all the living ex-Governors paid 
tribute by their presence to his memory, including the 
present Attorney-General of the United States. There in 
the procession were the judges of the Court of Errors and 
Appeals, the Chancellor of the State, the justices of the 
Supreme Court, and nearly all the State officials of conse- 
quence. The Second Regiment of the Guard acted as 
funeral escort. The guard of honor consisted of the mem- 
bers of the Bayard Post, G. A. R., of which Post General 
Stryker was a charter member. Every military ceremony 
indicative of respect and consideration was observed, salutes 
were fired, and his body was committed to the grave in 
Riverview Cemetery, upon the banks of the Delaware, 
within the precincts of the town in which he was born, 
on the margin of the field of battle which he so< graphically 
described, and amid all the surroundings the history of 
which he had perpetuated by his numerous writings. 

Here, in this beautiful spot, beside the beautiful river 
upon whose banks he had lived his life of usefulness and 
of honor, his body lies awaiting the last great summons : 

"'Here take thy long repose, 

Beneath the shelter of the deep green sod ; 

Death but a brighter halo round thee throws ; 

Thy fame, thy soul, alike have spurned the clod. 

Rest thee in God.” 


/ 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 49 

Dr. Humphreys — Here the program prepared by our 
late Vice-President ends, and the hour is getting late. 
But we have with us to-day the President of the Virginia 
State Society of the Cincinnati, and the Assistant Treasurer- 
General of the General Society. I call upon Mr. Cropper. 

Mr. Cropper — Mr. President and Members of the So- 
ciety of the Cincinnati, Ladies and Gentlemen : I came here 
to-day entirely unprepared for anything of this sort, and 
only after entering this chamber have I been asked to say a 
few words. 

After listening to all these papers that have been read in 
memory of General Stryker, exhaustive and complete as they 
are, it seems impossible to add anything. 

We have been told that General Stryker became a member 
of the New Jersey Society in 1876, and that there are but 
four in that Society now who were members then. I myself 
became a member of the New York Society in 1874, and I 
think there are but four there now who are older in mem- 
bership than myself. 

During the last twenty-four years it has been my privilege 
to meet General Stryker at many gatherings of our Society. 
We have met at Lexington and Concord, where “The em- 
battled farmers stood and fired the shot heard ’round the 
world” ; on the battlefields of Rhode Island ; on the beautiful 
banks of the Hudson, where our Order was formed ; at 
Valley Forge, the low- water mark of our country, where our 
ragged ancestors starved ; and on the banks of the Potomac, 
at that simple shrine of America which holds all there is upon 
earth of the greatest of men ; but the culminating point of 
that long association has been reserved for Trenton, that his- 
toric and revered ground; that Trenton which may well be 
called the apex of our Revolution ; and, from my intercourse 
with him during these many years, I can say that had I pre- 
pared myself for this occasion I could only have reiterated 
and indorsed all that has been said. 

In the name of the Virginia Society, which has been re- 


5o 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


vived within the last few years, and of which I am an officer, 
I thank you for your invitation to be present here. Had 
there been a meeting of that Society since last October I 
should have been able at this time to have presented a formal 
communication. I need hardly say that it will reach you in 
due course. 

Mr. Woodruff — I desire to offer the following resolu- 
tion : 

Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting, with the 
resolutions and addresses presented, be printed for preserva- 
tion in the archives of the Society as a perpetual memorial, 
and for distribution. 

Which resolution was seconded and adopted. 

Mr. Harris — I desire to offer three resolutions, and, as 
they are all of the same nature, I will read them all : 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be given to the 
Honorable Foster M. Voorhees, Governor of New Jersey, for 
his kindness and courtesy to us on this occasion. 

Resolved, That the Society of the Cincinnati in the State 
of New Jersey express to the Senate and General Assembly 
of the State their gratitude for their resolution giving them 
the use of the Senate and Assembly Chambers for this day. 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be extended to 
the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 
Assembly and to Adjutant-General Oliphant for their kind- 
ness and courtesy in connection with the present meeting. 

The resolutions were duly seconded and adopted. 

Mr. Harris — The Standing Committee desire to rec- 
ommend the admission of a new member. At the meet- 
ing of the Society at Pleasure Bay, N. J., on the Fourth of 
July last, the application of Dr. Austin Flint Morris, de- 
scendant of two Revolutionary officers, was made the special 
order for this meeting. The application having been ap- 
proved by the Standing Committee, he being entitled as 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 


Si 


representative of Major Joseph Morris, and Ensign Jonathan 
Ford Morris, to become a member, I move his admission 
to the Society under Rule two, by paying the admission fee 
of $500. His ancestor was killed in battle and did not join 
the Society. I move that this gentleman be admitted in 
accordance with the recommendation of the Standing Com- 
mittee. 

The motion was seconded and adopted. 

Mr. Harris — I would report to the Society that the 
Standing Committee, in the performance of their duty as 
laid down in our law, has appointed to fill the vacancy that 
existed in the offices of President and Vice-President of the 
Society, Dr. Frank Landon Humphreys, President, and Cap- 
tain Franklin Davenport Howell, Vice-President. The Pres- 
ident and Vice-President to serve until next Fourth of July, 
when the election will take place. 

Mr. Imlay — I have been reminded that I have been re- 
miss in not reporting the death of Messieurs John Clarke 
Sims and Thomas Talmadge Kinney, and in making this re- 
port I would move that a committee be appointed to draft 
suitable resolutions. 

The motion being seconded and carried, the President ap- 
pointed Messieurs McGee, Wilson and Barber as such com- 
mittee. 

Mr. Imlay — I desire to offer the following resolution : 

Whereas, The eligibility to membership in this Society 
as the representative of Colonel Nathaniel Scudder is vested 
in William Bradford Stryker, son of the late General Wil- 
liam Scudder Stryker ; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That such membership shall remain in abeyance 
until such disability shall cease. 

The motion being seconded, was carried. 

On motion, after the colors of the Society were carried 
out, the Society adjourned, to meet July 4, 1901. 

While the colors were being carried out the Society arose 
and sung : 


/ 





52 


Memorial to Gen. W. S. Stryker. 




Our father’s God, to Thee, 

Author of liberty, 

To Thee we sing; 

Long may our land be bright 
With freedom’s holy light; 

Protect us by Thy might, 

Great God, our King. 

God bless our native land ; 

Firm may she ever stand ; 

Thro’ storm and night ; 

When the wild tempests rave, 

Ruler of wind and wave, 

Do Thou our country save 
By Thy great might. 

For her our prayer shall rise 
To God above the skies; 

On Him to wait; 

Thou who art ever nigh, 

Guarding with watchful eye, 

To Thee aloud we cry, 

God save the State. 

Wessel Ten Broeck Stout Imlay, 


Secretary. 


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